The Explainer

History's most significant moon landings

We are in the era of a new space race, with multiple nations trying to return to the surface of the moon. The United States' Artemis mission is aiming to put man back on the moon just as it did in 1969. Humanity has attempted to land both manned and unmanned technology on the moon, marking some of the biggest moments in scientific history.

Luna 2 (Sept. 12, 1959)
The Soviet Union's Luna 2 was the "first man-made object to make contact with another planetary body," Space.com said. The unmanned craft was the first to reach the moon's surface. The rocket was able to report that the moon had "no magnetic field or radiation belts" and "deposited Soviet emblems on the lunar surface, carried in two metallic spheres," NASA said. This landing was an instrumental landmark in the space race of the 1950s and '60s between the USSR and the U.S.

Apollo 11 (July 20, 1969)
Perhaps the most famous and groundbreaking of all moon landings, NASA's Apollo 11 mission was the first to put a man on the moon. Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin took to space, successfully landing on the moon. The landing was televised and viewed by 650 million people, NASA said.

Odysseus (Feb. 22, 2024)
In preparation for NASA's Artemis mission, private companies have been involved in designing lunar landers. The company Intuitive Machines created the lander Odysseus that became the "first American spacecraft to set down on the moon in more than 50 years and the first nongovernmental effort ever to accomplish that feat," The New York Times said. Odysseus landed sideways on the south pole of the moon and sent back 350 megabytes of science and engineering data. "We've fundamentally changed the economics of landing on the moon," Steve Altemus, the chief executive of Intuitive Machines, said to the Times. "And we have kicked open the door for a robust, thriving cislunar economy in the future."

Statistic of the day

217: The number of Covid-19 vaccines reportedly received by one man without side effects. The 62-year-old German man got the jabs within 29 months and showed no signs of contracting Covid. Doctors described the man as "hypervaccinated," saying he took the vaccines for "private reasons."
The Guardian

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Me hate shrinkflation! Me cookies are getting smaller."

Cookie Monster venting in a post on X about companies reducing the size of products without reducing prices due to rising production costs or market competition

Talking Points

As economy falters, China girds its defenses

China is boosting its defense budget and ratcheting up its rhetoric. It is also trying to get its economy growing again. The country will boost its military spending by 7.2% this year, Reuters said. The announcement came at the National People's Congress, which also officially dropped any mention of "peaceful reunification" with Taiwan.

President Xi Jinping has pledged to build a "world-class force" by 2027, and that means the military will "grow regardless of the economic health of China." That health is shaky, CNN said. China's economy has been battered by a "troubled property sector, deflationary pressures, an exodus of foreign capital, a battered stock market and a record low birth rate."

'Gearing up for war'
The continued military spending and change of rhetoric suggest Beijing is "gearing up for war," said Business Insider. Leadership "wants to grow its military to the point where it is prepared to win a war if it has no choice but to fight one," said Li Mingjiang, a defense scholar at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, to Reuters. The increase could also reflect a focus on "military readiness, not imminent war," said the South China Morning Post.

"Alarms should be ringing" in Taiwan and the United States, defense analyst Ben Lewis said in The New York Times. China's military has ratcheted up provocative air and naval activity around Taiwan, raising the "risk of an accidental confrontation." Increased military spending only makes that confrontation more likely.

No 'policy bazooka'
Sustaining increased defense spending will be easier if China's economy grows along with it. That is not a sure thing. While officials have set an "ambitious" economic growth target of 5%, they have offered no "showstopping moves" to get there, said The New York Times. "Anybody who is looking for the policy bazooka is going to be disappointed," said Andrew Polk, the co-founder of Trivium China. The focus, it seems, is on actual bazookas.

Xi is giving "priority to strategic autonomy over economic growth," said The Wall Street Journal. "Xi clearly believes that a stringent focus on security can fend off any threats to his power stemming from China's current economic challenges," said Craig Singleton, the senior director of the China Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The next year could determine if he is right.

Good day 📖

… for Gabriel García Márquez fans. A decade after the Colombian author's death, his last novel, "Until August," will be published this month even though he asked for it to be destroyed. García Márquez's sons decided to publish the book because, in the end, he "wasn't in a position to judge his work, as he could only see the flaws but not the interesting things that were there," his son Gonzalo said to BBC Radio 4's "Front Row."

Bad day 🏅

… for Paris Olympics tourists. The French government announced Tuesday that free access to the opening ceremony of the games along the Seine River will not be available, as the city "grapples with security concerns about the unprecedented open-air event," The Associated Press said. Instead, free access to the opening festivities will be invitation-only.

Puzzles

Daily crossword

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The Week Recommends

The movies you want to watch this month

This month's film releases bring a lot of pomp and circumstance. A doc details the life of one of history's most famous painters, while a pop star's wildly successful concert documentary is finally available to stream. Here are three of the best offerings.

'Frida' (March 15)
You are probably familiar with the work of Frida Kahlo, the Mexican painter best known for her colorful self-portraits and ever-iconic black unibrow. This documentary is an archival treasure trove. It aims to tell Kahlo's story in her own words with illustrated diary entries, letters, essays and interviews. All of it is "brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork," said the film's description page on Prime Video, where it will be streaming. The directorial debut of Carla Gutiérrez, "Frida" is told mostly in Spanish and covers over 40 years of the artist's life, as filmmakers received "unrestricted access to research materials," much of which have never before been seen by the public.

'Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour' (March 15)
If you have not heard of Taylor Swift's "Eras" tour, you must be living under a rock. Since kicking off in March last year, "Eras" has become the highest-grossing tour of all time. And now that it is coming to Disney,+ those who were unable to shell out for a concert ticket can watch the whole thing from home. It features all 165 minutes of Swift's formidable set list, and the "cameras offer angles no spectator could ever experience from a seat," said Amy Phillips at Pitchfork.

'Shirley' (March 22)
In 1972, the first-ever Black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, launched a campaign to become the president of the United States. She was ultimately unsuccessful, but Netflix has immortalized her pioneering journey in "Shirley," written and directed by John Ridley and starring Regina King. King said that releasing "Shirley" ahead of the 2024 presidential election was a deliberate choice. "We thought, wouldn't it be more impactful to release it during a presidential election year?" King said to Harper's Bazaar.

Poll watch

About one in five Latino voters have considered changing their political parties, according to a new poll from Florida International University. The poll surveyed 1,221 Latino respondents and found 19.4% had considered switching parties or becoming independents. The majority of this group, 61.1%, were Democrats who had considered leaving the party.

INSTANT OPINION

Today's best commentary

'The court's Colorado decision wasn't about the law'
George T. Conway III at The Atlantic
Former President Donald Trump's "brazen effort to end constitutional democracy in America should have been the textbook example" of actions disqualifying someone from holding office, says George T. Conway III. But given the "political context," it was no surprise the Supreme Court ruled otherwise. The justices did not, however, dispute Colorado courts' conclusion that Trump "engaged in an insurrection." As Mick Jagger says, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you get what you need."

'Social media can be toxic for women. Here's how to change that.'
Kara Alaimo in the Los Angeles Times
Social media is "toxic" for women, says Kara Alaimo. It pushes them to set "unrealistic standards for themselves" and invites the world to judge them "more than ever before." It tells women they should have bodies only surgery could sculpt. People "weigh in with (often vicious) comments" about any picture they post. This has a "dramatic effect on how women are treated offline." Drowning out this abuse with positive comments and reporting violations will help turn the tide.

'Our country relies on satellites — we're in big trouble if Russia takes them out'
John Michael Weaver and Tom Roseth in The Hill
Russia's pursuit of possibly "nuclear-capable" anti-satellite weapons is a "red line" the United States can't let it cross, say John Michael Weaver and Tom Roseth. The U.S. and its allies must pressure Moscow to back off. Coordinating between NATO and others on a "common stance would prove more convincing." There is time to stop Russia from putting weapons of mass destruction in space and threatening satellites our military and economy rely on. "But not much time."

WORD OF THE DAY

ibogaine

A powerful psychedelic drug that has shown promise in other countries as a treatment for opioid addiction. While the drug remains illegal in the U.S., the drug has drawn a "surge of fresh interest" from researchers interested in its potential as a treatment for opioid use disorder, The New York Times said.

Why is Louisiana's crime crackdown a reversal?